Method for identifying Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601

ABSTRACT

Methods for identifying Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 and nucleotide sequences associated therewith.

The invention relates to a method for identification of Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain DSM 6601.

Escherichia coli is a gram-negative bacterium that occurs in human and animal intestinal flora as well as outside the intestines. Among the microbial cloning systems of genetic engineering, E. coli is now the most important host organism for expression of heterologous proteins as well as for cloning and DNA amplification.

E. coli exists in numerous varieties, which differ as regards capsule antigens (K antigens), surface antigens (O antigens) and flagella antigens (H antigens) and can therefore be subdivided into numerous serological types. Classification by serotypes, however, does not provide any indication of the different virulence of the pathogens. Representatives of one and the same serotype can have different pathogenic potential both in the human and in the animal body, ranging in the extreme case from avirulent to highly pathogenic. It is known that E. coli strain DSM 6601 is rated as nonpathogenic to humans or animals.

Thus there still exists a need for methods of verification of nonpathogenic E. coli strains. Serotyping is not adequate as the only method for evaluating whether an E. coli strain is pathogenic or nonpathogenic. It has already been mentioned that both pathogenic and nonpathogenic variants occur under the same serotype. For diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in medicine, and also for use for genetic engineering purposes, the ability unequivocally to identify individual strains is therefore desirable.

According to the invention, a method for identification of E. coli strain DSM 6601 is now proposed which is characterized in that certain primer pairs from the plasmids or from the fimA and focA sequences of the bacterial DNA are used in a PCR reaction.

PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is a method in which a few molecules of an arbitrary genomic DNA sequence can be multiplied in vitro by factors of 10⁶ to 10⁸ in extremely short time. The detection method according to the invention is based on the method described by R. K. Saiki et al. in Science 239: 487491 (1988).

PCR is performed by using primers, or in otherwise oligonucleotides, which usually have a length of about 15 to 30 nucleotides and the sequences of which are complementary to the initial or terminal sequences of the sister strands of the DNA to be amplified.

The double-stranded DNA of the sequence to be amplified is first denatured by heating, thus splitting it into individual strands. At a later stage, the complementary strand will be formed over the single-stranded region of the nucleic acid known as the template or matrix. After denaturing by heating, the mixture containing the primers is cooled, during which the primer nucleotides at the ends of the single-stranded DNA are hybridized and thus prevent recombination of the original single DNA strands. The temperature is then raised and a mixture of the four nucleotide-5′-triphosphates typical of DNA is added, as is a thermally stable DNA polymerase. Taq polymerase from the extremely thermophilic organism Thermus aquaticus, which even survives brief heating to above 95° C., has been found to be particularly suitable. At 72° C., the single DNA strand between the two ends occupied by primers is made up to a double strand by the polymerase.

The three process steps, namely denaturing by heat, primer annealing and polymerization, can be repeated until the mixture is exhausted. Since doubling of the DNA quantity is achieved in each individual step, a multiplication factor of about 10⁶ is theoretically achieved after about 20 cycles.

In the present invention, there are used as primer pairs such from the fimA sequence (SEQ ID NO:1) designated Muta 1 (SEQ ID NO:7) and 2 (SEQ ID NO:8) (FIG. 1) and such from the focA sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) designated Muta 3 (SEQ ID NO:9) and 4 (SEQ ID NO:10) (FIG. 2) of strain DSM 6601. These DNA sequences are identical in parts to genes of other enterobacteria, although at some positions they contain bases which have not yet been observed there in other enterobacteria.

The further primer pairs Muta 5 (SEQ ID NO:11) and 6 (SEQ ID NO:12) (FIG. 3), Muta 7 (SEQ ID NO:13) and 8 (SEQ ID NO:14) as well as Muta 9 (SEQ ID NO:15) and 10 (SEQ ID NO:16) (FIG. 4) were selected from the DNA sequences of the plasmids PMUT 1 (SEQ ID NO:3) (FIG. 5) and pMUT 2 (SEQ ID NO:4) (FIG. 6) of strain DSM 6601. These primer pairs also exhibit a nucleotide sequence which heretofore has not been found as such in enterobacteria.

The sequences of the primers Muta 1 to Muta 10 (SEQ ID NOS:7-16) are illustrated in detail in the attached FIGS. 1 to 4.

The invention will be explained in more detail hereinafter by means of the example:

A colony of E. coli strain DSM 6601, subcultured on an agar plate, was suspended in 100 μl of doubly distilled water. This suspension was heated to 95° C. for 10 minutes and then cooled on ice. 1 μl of the bacterial suspension was used as template DNA for the PCR.

Thereafter the following PCR reaction mixture was pipetted into a PCR reaction vessel:

28 μl doubly distilled water

10 μl 5×PCT buffer

8 μl 1.25 mM dNTPs

1 μl of each primer (0.5 μg/μl)

1 μl template

1 μl Taq polymerase (1 U/μl)

The following conditions were chosen for the PCR reaction:

a. 3 minutes at 95° C. (denaturing)

b. 45 s at 95° C. (denaturing)

c. 45 s at 58° C. (annealing of the primers)

d. 45 s at 72° C. (reaction temperature of the Taq polymerase)

Steps b. to d. were repeated at least 20 times.

The end products can then be used, for example, for identification of Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 or even sequenced in a way known in itself and used to examine correspondingly synthesized DNA sequences from E. coli strains to be studied.

16 1 549 DNA Escherichia coli 1 atgaaaatta aaactctggc aatcgttgct ctgtcggctc tgtccctcag ttccgcagcg 60 gctctggccg atactacgac ggtaaatggt ggggccgttc actttaaagg ggaagttgtt 120 aacgccgctt gcgcagttga tgcaggctct gttgatcaaa ccgttcagtt aggccaggtt 180 cgtaccgcta gcctgaagca ggaaggagca accagctctg ccgttggttt taacattcag 240 gtgaatgatt gcgataccac tgttgccaca aaagctgctg ttgccttctt aggtacggca 300 attgatgcta ccgatactga tgtactggct ctgcagagtt cagctgcggg tagcgcaaca 360 aacgttggtg tgcagatcct ggacagaacg ggtgctgcgc tgacgctgga cggtgcgaca 420 tttagttcag aaacaaccct gaataacgga accaatacca ttccgttcca ggcgcgttat 480 tttgcaaccg gtgccgcaac cccgggtgct gctaatgcgg atgcgacctt caaggttcag 540 tatcaataa 549 2 543 DNA Escherichia coli 2 atgaagttaa aattcatctc catggctgta ttttcagctc tgaccctggg tgttgcgaca 60 aatgcgtctg ctgtcaccac ggttaggtgt ggtacagttc attttaaggg tgaagtggtt 120 aatgctgcat gtgctgtaaa cactaactca ttcgatcaga cggttaatct tggacaggtt 180 cgttccgaaa gattgaaagt agatggagct aaaagcaatc cagttggatt tacaattgaa 240 ttaaatgatt gtgactcgca ggtgtctgct ggtgcaggaa ttgtcttttc aggcccagca 300 gttactggta aaacagatgt tcttgcttta caaagttctg cagcgggttc tgcaacaaac 360 ttcggcgttc agattactga ccataggccg aaggttgtac ctttagatgg aactgcaagc 420 tcaacgttta cattaactga cggaaccaac aaaattccat ttcaggcggt ttactacgca 480 actggacagg ccactgctgg tattgccaac gccgacgcca cctttaaagt tcagtaccag 540 taa 543 3 3177 DNA Escherichia coli 3 agcttttaga gcttggatac catgacccaa tgaagctacc tcaaaacttt gaatgatcga 60 gcggcaggct aaatgaaatc ttgagattca ttcagtctcg tcgtaatctc actattgtaa 120 aaacgaaaaa accaccctgg caggtggttt ttcgaaggtt agttaatcct ggcagattct 180 ctaaccgtgg taacagtctt gtgcgagaca tgtcaccaaa tactgtcctt tcagtgtagc 240 ctcagttagg ccgccacttc aagaactctc gttacatctc tcgcacatcc tgcttaccag 300 tggccgttgc cagtggcgtt aagtcgtgtc ttaccgggtt ggactcaaga cgatagttac 360 cggataaggc gccaggtcgg gctgaacggg gggttcgtgc acacagccca gcttggagcg 420 aacgacctac accgaacctg agatacctaa cagcgtgacg tatgagaaag cgccacgctt 480 cccgaagaga aaggcggaca ggtatccggt aagcggcagg gtcggaacag gagagcgcac 540 gagggagctt ccagggggaa acgcctggta tctttatata gtcctgtcgg gtttcgccac 600 ctctgacttg agcgtcgatt tttgtgatgc tcgtcagggg ggcggagcct atggaaaaag 660 cctcccgcgg agaccccttc ttctgggatc tttgtctttt gctcacatgt tctttccggt 720 tttatccccc gattctgtgg ataaccgtat taccgccttt gagtgagctg acaccgctcg 780 ccgcagtcga acgaccgagc gtagcgagtg agtgagcgag gaagcggaag agagaattta 840 tgtgacattt tctccttacg ctcctctatg ccgttctgca tcctgtccgg atgcgttata 900 tcccggtaag attttccgct tcaaagcgtg tctgtatgct gttctggagt tcttctgcga 960 gttcgtgcag tttctcacac atggcggcct gttcgtcggc attgagtgcg tccagttttt 1020 cgagcagcgt caggctctga ctttttatga atcccgccat gttgagtacg gcttgctgct 1080 gcttattcat cttttcgttt tctccgttct gtctgtcatc tgcgttgtgt gattatatcg 1140 cgtaccactt ttcgactgtt ttgctgccgc tattctgccg cttggctttt tgacgggcat 1200 ttctgtcaga caacactgtc actgccaaaa aactgccgtg cctttgtcgg taattcgagc 1260 ttgctgacag gacaggatgt gcaattgtta taccgcgcat acatgcacgc tattacaatt 1320 gccctggtca ggctttgccc cgacacccat gtcagatacg gagccatgtt ttatgacaaa 1380 acgaagtgga agtaatacgc gcaggcgggc tatcagtcgc cctgttcgtc tgacggcaga 1440 agaagaccag gaaatcagaa aaagggctgc tgaatgcggc aagaccgttt ccggtttttt 1500 tcgggcggca gctctcggta agaaagttaa ctcactgact gatgatcggg tactgaaaga 1560 agttatgaga ctgggggcgt tacagaaaaa actctttatc gacggcaagc gtgtcgggga 1620 cagggagtat gcggaggtgc tgatcgctat tacggagtat caccgtgccc tgttatccag 1680 gcttatggca gattagcttc ccggagagaa aactgtcgaa aactgacggt atgaacaccg 1740 taagctccca aagtgatcac cattcgcttt catgcatagc tatgcagcga gctgaaacga 1800 tcctgacgca tccttcctgt ttttccgggg taaaacatct ctttttgcgg tgtctcgcgt 1860 cagaatcgcg ttcagcgcgt ttcagtggtg cgtacaatta agggattatg gtaaatatat 1920 gagctatgcg ataactttaa ctgtgaagcg atgaacccat tacaggcaaa gccaattact 1980 cctgacagtg gtttagccag aagcagggct accaagacca atgcaataag taatatatcg 2040 ttttgctatc gtgccatccg tcgcgctcag ttccattgtg cttttttaag ctgtcgtttt 2100 tcttacggta tataccggtt ttttatggcg tggtttctta acttgttcag ctactgatgg 2160 acccatgtat ctaggtagtc aactagcttt gttagatcat aaaatattgc gaccaccata 2220 tcggcgatca ctcttcgatg ttggtttctt gtccaagaga ttagcttttt caagatcatt 2280 gatagctctc tgaacagtcc gtacagaaac ccccatacgt atggctagac tttccattga 2340 cggatgcggc cactcttgca aactccacca gtgaacgatc aggttaagta gtgtgttaaa 2400 ggccactgaa gttagctttt tctcgttttg tataaaaaac aatacggtag gcactgctgt 2460 ccagccaaga gacaaaccgc cagctttcca tttattctta acggagtaag tcattgattt 2520 tcctaagccc caaaatattt aaagtatata ttatatgtat attcatatga atagggtgac 2580 actggcgcca ttattgtgca accaaaaaag actactctga aaacgaggaa aagatttttt 2640 cctgcctgaa ttagatacgg agttagcgat atgaaaaccg aacaacgtca tgatcttgtt 2700 aaagatattg aggtttttgg cgtatccttg tctctgttga tttccagagc gaatgagaag 2760 tctgttacaa tgccatctgg tctaagtcgg gagcagagaa gagcatgggc agcggagcag 2820 gcgcgcaaaa tccacaattg aatattgtct cattctctga gaccttcaac ctttattaca 2880 catccagata ttctgcaaaa acactcgata aaatcgatga tttcattgag cattttgaaa 2940 aatacaatct ctttggcgat cctttaaaag gatatccagc ttggactggc aaagtatcgc 3000 catcgtggaa agtgcctgat cattacgaaa acaaagaagc tattgagaag tatgctagag 3060 ctaacaaatt atggcatgct catttaggcg atccggtttt taaagatacg tttcatggga 3120 aatacaaggt ttctgactgg gttattcatt tccagcggct gacaccgaac catataa 3177 4 5552 DNA Escherichia coli modified_base (120) a, t, c or g 4 atctctagag tcgacctgca ggcatgctca aggcctgaca accctgtcgt ttttcgccaa 60 ctcctgcgag gtaacctcga acatgcgctg taagttggcg tagctgtcct gccacgcttn 120 gctgctgttg ttcgtagtgc ctctgtaagc tctctaatgc gctcagaagc tgctgctcca 180 tttcggtcat gaatctcttc accctgatag ataaaaccgc ccagaatcga ttctgtggcg 240 tctgatgagg ttatttggcg ctgtacttga tgacctgacg atgttgagcg ttcttgtact 300 cgtcgatctt cttcgccccc tgcggaagga tcaggtaata cacgctcttg ttcttggaat 360 cgtgaattat cgatacgccg gctccggtct ggctctttaa gtcctgcagg atctggctct 420 gctcgctgat ttcgttctgg cgttcgacca cgatagtccc gagataccaa gctactccaa 480 tcaatatcgc aaacaggatc ccacttaatg ccaggctgta cagccatgtc attccgacta 540 agcggtgtat ctgttttagc tggctgtcgt tctcttcttg gatagcggtc tgtatgttcc 600 ctgagcttaa tttcaaggcc tcggtgatac gtttctcgtg cttctcgaaa tgcgttcgcg 660 acgctcgttg cggtagtctt ggcttgctgn cttcgatttg ctctcgaact cccgcgctaa 720 atttaaaatc tcgctcatac agcactcctt ttaagcgaat attcgggcca cctgccggat 780 cagcaatact gatactggat ttggtttccc gtacgaccga caatccggca tcggtaaggt 840 gggaaatcac ccctttacga tccgtaattt ctccctgctc aatcaagctg attagccctt 900 tggtaatggc ttccgctgcc tgctgtttgt tgcgaggaag gtcattagag ggggttaatg 960 ctcggcgatt agcagggtca ttcgggtcgc gtaacccaag ccggtcattg gtgagggttt 1020 gccatgcgtt aacacgaggc cggtcagccc gatcaaagta aggttgtagc cgttttccgc 1080 tctgcaattc gatgttcggg ataacaaaat tcaattcaag acgccctttg tcctgatgtt 1140 gaacccagag gcaggcatac tggtctttat ctagaccggt catcaatgtc tgctcccatt 1200 catccatcaa tcgctgcttt tcgccttcgg gtaaatcact ctcctgaaaa gagagcacgc 1260 cagaggtata agttcgggca aattcgcagn catcaatcag ctctttgacg tgctcagggt 1320 taccccgtaa caccgtcgct tgttcgcgct gacgatcagg gcccagaagg taatcgacag 1380 gaccactccc gccaccggca ccacgaccat gaatccttaa cgatcacgat gttgctccag 1440 cagttcggca agatgttggt caatgctatt gagcaccgct aacaacgaca cccgttcttg 1500 cggcggtaag ccatgctgat tcaagtaacg ggctatttga ttgaggttat taccgatccc 1560 gctgacctga cgtaacaagg tcgggtctac ggtaaggtta gcggacgacg cccgagctgt 1620 acgcgattcg cctaagccaa cggctcgtaa ccactcggcc aaatgcttac ggtcacagcg 1680 ttcaagtagc cgctgatgct ccgcttcggt gagtctgatt ttgatctctt tggtgcgctt 1740 ttccatgaga atccgctgag aaagtttcgc acccaaagtg cgaattttcg cagtggatgc 1800 aaggggtttc ggggggcggc gagccccctg aaacagtcac agacggcacc tcgaagaggg 1860 gacgctgtgt gtactgnctt agtacagcat ctatcgtaca tcgaggtcgc atcacgcaca 1920 aacaaaaagc cccgcaaaag cagggctgtt atctgatata ggttgttttg tctcacacgg 1980 cagcggaaga ggaatccgaa gtggtactgg tagtagtatt ggatgctgct gacgatattt 2040 tccgctttga cccaaggctt aaataatcaa tgcctgtaat caacgatctc aatacgcctt 2100 cggataccat agcgataaac gtatcttgct ggttatggct tgcgatgcaa atcgtagcat 2160 cacctttttt atactttaaa acacctgcta aatatccatt ttcatctaga acactcttaa 2220 gatgttcatt tgttattgtt tgtagcgttt gctttgtttc gcttcgagca tacgccttag 2280 ctagcttccg agaaaaagca tccgcatcat gactatcttt atttactcgc tcaataaatt 2340 tgcttaagtc aacaaatccc ttaaaacgag tggacatatt gttaacaaaa tcagtggcag 2400 cattttttat ccatgcttta tagccaaaaa aacgctcgaa aacattttgg tcgtagataa 2460 ataccgtatc gccagcaaaa acaagagatg ccttaccatc aatagaaatc atatcttgat 2520 ctactcgaga tagttctttt ttgctaaacc cataaaaatt atttttcttt cttgataagt 2580 tttgaactgg atattgcttc ttgtatatgg ttatacaatt gtcgtcatta ttcttactca 2640 aaacgaaaat gattgagtca acttttgata ttagatccac actgtcaaaa tcaacaattg 2700 ggatattttc attgccatca ccaccaaacc cagcatcaaa cacaatgcca gtcagaaact 2760 tcatttgctc attatcatac tgctcagcat catttaaaaa tgaaatggtg ttggtgcggt 2820 cacttagtgt attaacatct gatactatca caacccgatt ttctaaatca gatatagttt 2880 tctttatcac attatcaata atggactgtt ttagctcact gtcattttta aggatggcaa 2940 ttttatagct aaaagagtcc ttagcacccg ctttaccttt atttttaaag ttaaagtaag 3000 tgtgcaatgt aacatcgtta atatcacaat caaaatgctt atacagttct aaaagctctt 3060 gtgctttttc ttcattatgc tccaaagcat caagatctta aggcatcgtc actcatcatc 3120 attcctctat gatttttttc gcgaacgtta aataatcatc atgatttata actctgataa 3180 aatcattttc ttttattaaa tctttagata aaactatcaa actcaccgtc ttgcgttttt 3240 tcccttccat tagctaccac actgtaagta atcttatagg cagaaacatt aaataatgac 3300 aatgttgggt tgcagtgaat tctttttgtt ttgatgtgca aaaaaccgac gataatcaaa 3360 acaaacaaaa aattaactat atttgatggt ttgcttaaat cagtaaagac caacggcatt 3420 atgtacgttg ataaaaaaga aagatactca ccggattctt ttttacatga aacgaccttt 3480 aactttcttg acaccgcacc ggagtctaag tttttcaaaa cccatcgata ccaaatgtat 3540 gtataagaac aagttaaaat caaagccccg cagatcactg acctcaatac agaaaatgtt 3600 aatctgctat ttgaatagtc gagtacgcat tgaaattttc catccgcgcc agaacacgaa 3660 gacatggcct tatctaaaac agaccatacg ttatcaatac cagaaaaata tattgttatc 3720 ggtataaaat aaaaacaaca ttgataagag atacattcta attttcattt ttgtaaaatt 3780 tcctgtacca cgttgatcta cttattccta aagaaatcca ttctccatct ctaactttcg 3840 gccttccacc accagagctt ttttttccac gttgacgctg aatttcagaa gtatgtgttt 3900 gtttaacata ctcttcaaag ccaagctctg taaggttctt acttgtccac ttagccacac 3960 ttttagcaat tcccatgact tcgttctcgt ctaaaggtgc ggagaactgc aggttgtagg 4020 ctttagcgcg ttcaatgcag gcttgtagcc attggtcata ctgcggccag ccttggcgga 4080 tagcgcggta agcccacttg cgggttttat cgaagagggt gcagttacgg cctaaaccgt 4140 agtccggcag gatttcgcgg tcattggctg cgccaaggtc gaggtaatcg gctaaccagt 4200 caagggtata gagctctggc tgccagacgg tgatctgcca gtgcaggtgg ttcggattct 4260 tgcaaattag ccctgaatac cccgcatctg cgcccaattt tttacgcagc gcattctcga 4320 tggcggcggc gtatttaagg ggggcagctc gaccatccgg cgcggtacgt accgccgtat 4380 gcaaggcata caacaggtga gcatgtccgt tctcggggtt tttgatggtg agtgtgggcg 4440 caggtgcccc cagatcggcc caatcaatcg cggctccggc tctgtccacg tcaaagcaaa 4500 gccagtacat ggcgtgaggc tgattaaact ggatgtattt tgcgaggaga gcacgctctt 4560 taccggcaat gcgaacacca aactgtaaat catcggagaa gtacggcttg tggggtaacc 4620 ggtcgttaaa aagcgttaaa gcctgattat ccaaggctcc cagccttatg gcggggctgt 4680 tgttttgcac gctgcatgtg ctaatatcct ttctaggttt cgacctagcc ctgaatgtca 4740 tgtccgctcg ccaaagtaga gcatgatttc ggggctttgt tttttctgcc actaagttac 4800 acctcaacaa cggtttttgt catccccgac aatccgttat tcctgcttgt tctcgcacgg 4860 ctttacgctc atactacttc ttgtagatac acttgtcact acatcaagag gtgagatgat 4920 ggccacgatt aatattcgga tcgatgacga gctgaaaagc cgctcttatg ccgcactgga 4980 aaagctgggc gtaacgccgt ccgaggttct gcgccaaaca ctggaatatg tggcccaaag 5040 cggacgtttg ccgttccagc aggttttgct gaccgaggat gatgccgatt tgatggctat 5100 cgttcgggat cgtctggaaa acccacaggc ggggcgtaaa ggtgtcactg gatgagctat 5160 aaccttgaat ttgatccccg agccctgaag aaggaatggc gcaagctcgg ggatgatgtc 5220 cgtctgcagt tcaagaaaaa actcgagcag gttctacaac accccgcgga tcgataaaaa 5280 tcgcctgcga gagctgcatg actgctacaa aatcaagctc cgtgcatccg gttatcgctt 5340 nggtctatca ggttcgcgat caaaccatta cggtattcgt ggtggcggtc ggtaagggcn 5400 gagcgttctg ccgcttacga tgcggcccga taaacgctta taaactcatg ccgtcaccgc 5460 gagaataccg ctgttcgtgc gcttggctaa ttgctccaag cggcgcagtg ttgtgtttaa 5520 gctctcgact tcgtgcgcca agccggtgac tt 5552 5 597 DNA Escherichia coli 5 gactgcccat gtcgatttag aaatagtttt ttgaaaggaa agcagcatga aaattaaaac 60 tctggcaatc gttgttctgt cggctctgtc cctcagttct acagcggctc tggccgctgc 120 cacgacggtt aatggtggga ccgttcactt taaaggggaa gttgttaacg ccgcttgcgc 180 agttgatgca ggctctgttg atcaaaccgt tcagttagga caggttcgta ccgcatcgct 240 ggcacaggaa ggagcaacca gttctgctgt cggttttaac attcagctga atgattgcga 300 taccaatgtt gcatctaaag ccgctgttgc ctttttaggt acggcgattg atgcgggtca 360 taccaacgtt ctggctctgc agagttcagc tgcgggtagc gcaacaaacg ttggtgtgca 420 gatcctggac agaacgggtg ctgcgctgac gctggatggt gcgacattta gttcagaaac 480 aaccctgaat aacggaacca ataccattcc gttccaggcg cgttattttg ccggggccgc 540 aaccccgggt gctgctaatg cggatgcgac cttcaaggtt cagtatcaat aacctac 597 6 543 DNA Escherichia coli 6 atgaagttaa aattcatctc catggctgta ttttcagctc tgaccctggg tgttgcgaca 60 aatgcgtctg ctgtcaccac ggttaatggt ggtacagttc attttaaggg tgaagtggtt 120 aatgctgcat gtgctgtaaa cactaactca ttcgatcaga cggttaatct tggacaggtt 180 cgttccgaaa gattgaaagt agatggagct aaaagcaatc cagttggatt tacaattgaa 240 ttaaatgatt gtgactcgca ggtgtctgct ggtgcaggaa ttgtcttttc aggcccagca 300 gttactggta aaacagatgt tcttgcttta caaagttctg cagcgggttc tgcaacaaac 360 ttcggcgttc agattactga ccataggccg aaggttgtac ctttagatgg aactgcaagc 420 tcaacgttta cattaactga cggaaccaac aaaattccat ttcaggcggt ttactacgca 480 actggacagg ccactgctgg tattgccaac gccgacgcca cctttaaagt tcagtaccag 540 taa 543 7 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 7 atactacgac ggtaaatggt 20 8 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 8 tacatcagta tcggtagcat 20 9 21 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 9 ccacggttag gtgtggtaca g 21 10 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 10 cgtcggcgtt ggcaatacca 20 11 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 11 aactgtgaag cgatgaaccc 20 12 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 12 ggactgttca gagagctatc 20 13 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 13 gaccaagcga taaccggatg 20 14 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 14 gtgagatgat ggccacgatt 20 15 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 15 gcgaggtaac ctcgaacatg 20 16 20 DNA Artificial Sequence Description of Artificial Sequence Primer 16 cggcgtatcg ataattcagg 20 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for detecting Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601, comprising: (a) isolating nucleic acid from a bacterium; (b) amplifying the nucleic acid from said bacterium using a primer pair selected from the primer pair groups consisting of: SEQ ID NO:7 and SEQ ID NO:8; SEQ ID NO:9 and SEQ ID NO:10; SEQ ID NO:11 and SEQ ID NO:12; SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:14; and SEQ ID NO:15 and SEQ ID NO:16; and (c) detecting Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 by visualizing an amplification product of (b).
 2. A method of detecting Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 comprising: (a) isolating nucleic acid from a bacterium; (b) amplifying the nucleic acid isolated from said bacterium using at least one primer selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14 SEQ ID NO:15 and SEQ ID NO:16, and (c) detecting Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 by visualizing an amplification product of (b).
 3. A method for amplifying an Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 nucleic acid sequence comprising the steps of isolating nucleic acid from Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 and subjecting said nucleic acid to polymerase chain reaction amplification using a nucleic acid primer pair selected from the primer pair groups consisting of: SEQ ID NO:7 and SEQ ID NO:8; SEQ ID NO:9 and SEQ ID NO:10; SEQ ID NO:11 and SEQ ID NO:12; SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:14; and SEQ ID NO:15 and SEQ ID NO:16.
 4. A method for amplifying an Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 nucleic acid sequence comprising the steps of isolating nucleic acid from Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 and subjecting said nucleic acid to polymerase chain reaction amplification using at least one nucleic acid primer selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:15 and SEQ ID NO:16.
 5. A nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:15 and SEQ ID NO:16, or functional fragments or variants thereof.
 6. A reagent comprising a nucleic acid of claim
 5. 7. A nucleic acid amplification kit comprising a nucleic acid of claim
 5. 8. A method for detecting Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601, comprising: (a) isolating nucleic acid from a bacterium; (b) amplifying the nucleic acid from said bacterium using a first primer selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14 and SEQ ID NO:15, and a second primer selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:16; and (c) detecting Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 by visualizing an amplification product of (b).
 9. A method for amplifying an Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 nucleic acid sequence comprising the steps of isolating nucleic acid from Escherichia coli strain DSM 6601 and subjecting said nucleic acid to polymerase chain reaction amplification using a first primer selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, and SEQ ID NO:15; and a second primer selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:16. 